What type of small fish should I get?

[Zastrus]

Hey all. My tank has 2 platys, 1 gup, and 2 neons. It's a 10g. At first I had 6 neons, but they just kept dying off, got 2 left. Is there another kind of small fish that are hardier than neons? I want small fish, my fam says to get 'regular' sized fish, but I don't wanna. :sad:

Anyone wanna recommend some tiny fish for my tank?

[BrkD]

you need at least 4 more neon tetras. they are better in a school of 6 or more

Edit: sorry i didnt read the whole thread.. did you cycle your tank before you put your fish in there? "regular sized fish" wouldnt fit in a 10g tank. i recently had to return my angel fish to the LFS because it was growing out of my 10g.

[Cory Lover]

Hi,

If you don't get anymore Neons, return the two you have to the pet store because they really like being in groups.

How about five Pygmy Cories? They grow to a little less then a inch and are very peaceful. They will also help clean the excess food on the bottom that the other fish have not ate.

Happy fish keeping!

Cory Lover

[Ulan]

Glowlight tetras are not much larger than neons, not directly ugly, and much hardier.

[Star_Rider]

I went with black neons..btw, I had one neon left from a situation similar to yours..all but the one died..it is happily swimming with the black neons.


I have found that neons are comfortable in groups(instinctive survival mode) but are loose shoaling fish.

[Zastrus]

Corys aren't algae eaters right?

And about the neons, they just kept dying off, no clue why, but the last 2 seem to be fine.. I'll see what I can do..

The neons I bought are 2 for $1. There were others at the LFS that cost 1 for $1.99. (But were bigger than the little ones..)

Could it be that the neons I bought were some kind of feeder fish? The tank that they were in had a LOT of little neons in it, at least 40+ (if I remember right?) Or maybe they're so cheap because of the high death rate?:sad:

And tank is cycled, and by regular sized fish, i mean about the size of a platy. Sorry for not being specific.

[Ulan]

Don't worry about your neons dying off. There are lots of theories about this (inbred, carrying diseases, medications wearing off, need excellent acidic water) but, in the end, it's normal that a big percentage of neons you buy just dies off. The survivors are often surprisingly hardy.

Those small neons are of normal size. The "jumbo" ones are bred that way.

[CaitxSith]

also depends on the store you buy your neons from. Some LFS have extremely hardy ones and others are like arylic-they are so sensitive! I just compared :D
my lfs petco's neons die the next morning.
my other lfs pet goods' neons live their full life :)

but the majority of the neons aren't as hardy as they used to be, due to the demands and the people trying to keep up with breeding...

[Aussie_hippie_2]

2 for $1!? The absolute cheapest I've ever found them was 3 for $4, and I consider even that a good deal.

[Cory Lover]

Corys aren't algae eaters right?

Hi,

No. Cories are not algae eaters, but they do eat some algae.

Cory Lover